How To Live in a World That is Not Our Home
“For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” Hebrews 13:14 (NLT)
I had been wrestling with this question for so long: How do we persevere when we are living in the tension of a world that’s not our home?
It is the worst feeling to find yourself living in the fallout of your own sin or someone else’s sinful choices. Like when a loved one does or says something hurtful and shatters your trust. Or when your dreams and prayers don’t get answered. I felt so fed up after years of waiting, years of rejection from something I felt called to do. So weary from doors staying shut, from the unkindness of others, from finding myself in the same cycle of doubt.It is the unfortunate reality of sin invading this world that we will continually find ourselves on the wrong side of love, of justice, or regret.
But in our key verse the author reminds us: “This world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” [Hebrews 13:14, NLT] I realized a critical truth: We should not love or long for our present home so much so that we lose sight of our eternal home, or become hopeless when we face the realities of a broken world.
By living in this world, we will face trials and sorrows of many kinds. It’s a guarantee. But if we live of this world, we lose our hope. We lose our grip on the covenant promise that says this is not our home and this is not how our story ends. So how do we live in a world that is not our home? How do we persevere when it feels like we’re losing the daily battle?
We see this addressed in the next verse, where the author exhorts us to a daily rhythm of praise: “Therefore let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.” [Hebrews 13:15, NLT]
It hit me. When we love nothing more than we love Jesus, we always have hope. When we proclaim our allegiance to Him more than we proclaim anything else. This is how we win the daily battle.
I have spent so much time and energy chasing the things in this world, only to realize that the taste of Heaven – our true home – will only ever come out of a posture of worship. When our love for God outweighs all other loves – love of career, love of success, love of comfort – we can not only live but flourish in a world that was never meant to be our permanent home.
Friend, if we chase anything in this life, let it be our heavenly prize. The promise of a new home – a home without sin, without sorrow, without pain, without disappointment. There is no greater joy nor satisfaction than knowing confidently that you belong to Christ, that the promise of eternal life is yours. So let’s declare it with our lips above everything else.